2 THESSALONIANS

Never grow weary of doing what is

right brothers. 3:13
 I. INTRODUCTION

Although this letter was believed to have been written by St Paul,

many modern scholars are of opinion that it is not from apostle
Paul and they consider it as a pseudepigraph. Hence there is some
confusion in the minds of ordinary readers regarding the
authenticity and genuineness of this letter. Here, one comes
across similarities with the first letter to the Thessalonians, and
yet, there are actually more differences than similarities.
 • In the letter itself the author
claims to be Paul and is writing
to the Thessalonians. But there
are many indications in the letter
which suggest that the author of
AUTHOR 2 Thessalonians is actually
writing under Paul's name but is
not Paul and that the letter has
nothing to do at all with the
Christian community at
Thessalonica.
• The unknown author is writing to an unknown community of
communities which know about Paul and respect his place in
the early church. The author's intention is to make Paul speak
authoritatively on the crisis that the author's community is
currently facing. The real author is writing in the name of Paul
to the Thessalonians. Here are some of the arguments put
forward by scholars to prove that Second Thessalonians is a
pseudonymous letter written in the name of Paul to add
authority to his writing and using 1 Thessalonians as the
model.
• 1) The vocabulary, theology and style of the two letters
point to some sort of literary dependence between the
two and the scholarly conclusion is that the
pseudonymous Second Letter uses the first as its model.
• 2) The two letters differ in their eschatology. According
to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, parousia will arrive suddenly
whereas 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 gives an apocalyptic
timetable from which the arrival of the parousia can be
deduced by observing the events preceding it.
• 3) Second Thessalonians is from a period later
than that of the genuine Pauline letters where
apostolic presence has given way to tradition (cf.
2:15; 3:6), Christology has developed much
further and the language expressions have
undergone notable change.
• 4) The First Letter is warm and personal whereas
the second one is impersonal and didactic.
• 5) The second letter is not in the style and wording of Paul and
scholars take it as a decisive argument against accepting the second
letter to Thessalonians as coming from Paul.
• Although A.J. Malherbe in a recent commentary summarizes the
arguments for the non-Pauline authorship of 2 Thessalonians under
the titles of literary relationship, language and style, theology,
apostleship, tradition and ethics, he favours a Pauline authorship of
this letter." According to him, the arguments against the authenticity
of 2 Thessalonians are not persuasive.
 ADDRESSEE

• The author might have chosen the addressee as the Thessalonians because
in 1 Thessalonians an important issue for the community was the coming
of the Lord the author of 2 Thessalonians is very familiar with 1
Thessalonians and he/she often borrows phrases, terms and ideas from 1
Thessalonians. Thus, although the vocabulary in 2 Thessalonians is very
much Pauline, the author uses it in a non-Pauline manner. The addressee,
i.e., the author's community, is probably to be found in Asia Minor instead
of Macedonia or Achaia and almost certainly not in Thessalonica because
the effectiveness of a letter written under Paul's name would be
questionable in areas where Paul's genuine letters were well known.
 DATE

• Scholars conclude that this letter could have been

written in the period between AD 70 and the end of
the century. Widespread persecutions seem to be
the background of the letter. Historically two
persecutions had taken place, one under Roman
emperor Domitian in AD 81-96 and the other under
Trajan in AD 98-117.
• This letter addresses a crisis
created in a Christian
community because of the claim
that "the day of the Lord" has CONTEXT
come upon it (cf. 2:1-2). There
were mixed reactions in the
people about the news.
• Some were frightened, some others quit their jobs and began idling
away their time (cf. 3:6-13), and the rest awaited the full effect of
the Lord's coming, making it a noisy issue in the community. The
author tries to calm down the agitated fellow- Christians, telling
them that the day of the Lord has not yet come (2:3). The author is
worried that giving credence to the fictitious news might disillusion
believers and turn them into disrepute in the community at large
when they later come to realize that the news was false. It is not
clear what gave rise to the belief that the day of the Lord has
already come. The widespread persecutions might have been taken
as indicators of the parousia. As mentioned already, there were two
major persecutions towards the end of the first century.
 1:1-2 Introduction and greeting

1:3-12 Thanksgiving and prayer

STRUCTURE
2:1-17 The Day of the Lord
(parousia)

3:1-15 Instructions 3:16-18

Greeting and final blessing